Ohioans still love Strickland, if not his ideas

A new Quinnipiac Poll shows that 56 percent of Ohioans approve of Gov. Ted Strickland's job performance, roughly the same as in recent months. But three recent proposals were panned:

• A plan to create a state education director that he would appoint to a post higher than the state superintendent and school board is opposed by 70 percent of Ohioans.

• His push to expand the Ohio Lottery to Keno games gets thumbs down from 49 percent, compared with 44 percent who support it. (The question refers to expanding the games to "bars" while the actual proposal is broader.)

Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said although Strickland's approval rating slipped a few points from last fall (61 percent in November, 58 percent in September), his numbers "are still very healthy."

"They like him more than his proposals," Brown said.

The plan to revamp the state Education Department has not been introduced in the legislature. Nor has the bond package, a proposed constitutional amendment that Strickland wants on the November ballot.

The governor has threatened to mount a petition drive if lawmakers don't approve the package for a public vote.

Rules for Strickland's Keno expansion, widely panned by gambling opponents such as Republican U.S. Sen. George V. Voinovich, were approved last week by the Ohio Lottery Commission.

Strickland said he thinks Ohioans don't know enough about his proposals yet to have a poll accurately gauge whether the ideas ultimately will fly.

When it comes to his bond proposal, for instance, Strickland said people will support it when they learn how effective it could be creating new jobs in Ohio -- and that it is a way of improving the economy and bolstering sagging state revenues without passing tax hikes.

And when it comes to his education proposal, he hopes to convince Ohioans that creating a state education director would help him and the legislature make needed changes that would improve local schools.

"I believe the people of Ohio, when they understand what we are trying to do, will be supportive," Strickland said.

Strickland reacted to the poll findings in Washington, where he has been attending the National Governors Association's winter meeting.